How to Create an Artistic Watercolor Background Effect (With a Photoshop Action)

Welcome to our Photoshop in 60 Seconds series, in which you can learn a Photoshop skill, feature, or technique in just a minute!

Photoshop in 60 Seconds

You can create awesome backgrounds for any of your graphic design projects using a Photoshop Action. And in this quick video below, I'll show you how to transform a simple photo with a creative watercolor action.

Create a New Layer and name it "brush." Select the Brush Tool (B) and use the brush to Fill in the areas where you'd like the effect to take place. Here I painted the boy and a little of the background. When you're ready, hit the Play button to play the action.

Earlier on, you may be prompted to make some manual adjustments. So adjust the Threshold Levels before continuing the action.

Finish the watercolor effect by experimenting with Adjustment Layers in the Sketch and Watercolor folders. Hide some layers or add a beautiful brown #4a1905 and white Gradient Map for a nice color. Then use the brushes included with your action for more texture.

Here's the final effect.

Want to see this in real time? Check out the video above to see this lesson at work!

A Bit More Detail

Learn more from our Photoshop experts. Check out the following tutorials below:

60 Seconds?!

This is part of a series of quick video tutorials on
Envato Tuts+ in which we introduce a range of subjects, all in 60
seconds—just enough to whet your appetite. Let us know in the comments
what you thought of this video and what else you'd like to see explained
in 60 seconds!